21 Ideas For Your Nonprofit’s Donation Confirmation Page

Donor retention literally begins on the page that the donor is sent to following the completion of their donation, sometimes called the thank you page, post-conversion page or confirmation page.

The donation confirmation page is your first and best opportunity to make a great first impression, while conveying and soliciting important information to and from your donor.

Here are 21 ideas for your donation confirmation page:

In this first grouping of ideas, you’ll find ways to make the donor feel appreciated and set them up to receive future communications from your org. All seven of the ideas below can and should be featured on one page.

Make the donor feel special

1. Say “Your donation was processed successfully!” with text

2. Say “Thank you!” with text

3. Say how the donation dollars will be used with text

4. Say how the donation will impact those your organization serves (slightly different from #3) with text

5. A photo or photos that show the impact of their donation

(and/or…)

6. A video that says thanks and shows the impact of their donation

7. Text that explains what the donor can expect to receive from future communications

Generate a second interaction

After you make the donor feel all warm and fuzzy inside, you’ll want to re-engage with the donor and generate a second interaction.

The worst thing that can happen is for them to close your website immediately after making a donation. You spent a lot of time and energy a) getting them to your website and b) getting them to donate. Since they’re already on your website, give them something enticing to do next.

As opposed to items 1-7 above, you don’t want to place all of the items below on one page. This would risk what Unbounce calls The Toothpaste Trance, where a website visitor is given so many options that they end up choosing something at random that will end up being meaningless to them (kind of like when you stare at all the options in the toothpaste aisle).

Choose just a few of the ideas below that make the most sense for your organization. Whatever you choose represents excellent candidates for A/B testing.

8. Contact info (“Contact us any time with questions or concerns!”)

9. Social media buttons to share that they gave

10. “Follow Us/Like Us” on social media buttons

11. Links directly to organization social media accounts

12. Link to a donor survey

13. Link to another webpage or blog post

14. Link to upcoming events

15. Link to volunteer opportunities

16. Employee matching option (can be text that asks donor to see if their employer matches or a search box that searches participating companies).

17. Embedded contact form for feedback (“Have a question or comment? Fill out this form to let us know!”)

18. Link or form to subscribe to blog

19. Create and send tribute card

Social proof

Your donation confirmation page is also a good opportunity to reassure the donor that they are not alone and that their gift matters.

20. Donor testimonial (why I give and/or continue to give)

21. Campaign or project status

If you’re a Bloomerang user, you have the ability to build a confirmation message in Bloomerang, or redirect to a dedicated URL.

If you have the ability to create and customize your own web pages, be sure to take advantage of the redirect option.

What do you have on your donation confirmation page? Did I miss anything? Let me know in the comments below!

Steven Shattuck is Chief Engagement Officer at Bloomerang and Executive Director of Launch Cause. A prolific writer and speaker, Steven is a contributor to "Fundraising Principles and Practice: Second Edition" and volunteers his time on the Project Work Group of the Fundraising Effectiveness Project and is an AFP Center for Fundraising Innovation (CFI) committee member.

[…] Pay close attention to your thank you page, too. Where do your donors land immediately after making a gift? Believe it or not, your “Thank You for Your Donation!” landing page is one of the single most important pages on your website. Your donors need to be reassured that they haven’t fallen into some dark Internet black hole – and your Thank You page provides the perfect opportunity to engage your donors even further. Take the time to celebrate your donors through your Thank You page, and they’ll be motivated and inspired beyond the donation they just made. It’s all about doing whatever you can to nurture those donor relationships. Bloomerang has 21 Ideas for Your Nonprofit’s Donation Confirmation Page. […]